


He's A Phantom

by NickiRickiTicki



Series: Ranboo... Emphasis on the "Boo" [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Danny Phantom AU, Gen, I got really into DP one week, also fuck butch hartman, and also other stuff, and got lost in the sauce, so bam: au where ranboo and dream are halfas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29670288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickiRickiTicki/pseuds/NickiRickiTicki
Summary: A year has passed since Ranboo has been adopted into the Watson family, and moved to the notorious ghost town of L’Manburg. When he starts to show strange abilities after his 17th birthday however, he starts to wonder if there’s a deeper connection to him and his new home.
Series: Ranboo... Emphasis on the "Boo" [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131458
Comments: 39
Kudos: 84





	1. Wake Up Call

**_Beep Beep Beep Beep_ **

“WAKE THE FUCK UP RANBOOB, WE’RE NOT GONNA WAIT FOR YOU.”

He groaned, it was way too early to deal with Tommy’s yelling today.

Ranboo tossed and turned in his bed, before deciding it was better to get up now and deal with Tommy’s yelling while half awake instead of dealing with it half asleep. He sat up, stretching his arms, before putting on his slippers and making his way down the hall.

It had been about a year since he had moved in with the Watson’s, and while it was still definitely weird, he was really starting to feel like maybe he belonged here. He paused by a photo hanging in the hall of Phil, Tommy, and Techno all smiling next to each other, taken maybe a few months before Ranboo came. The wall was lined with different photos and achievements, from certificates to trophies, but at the end was his favorite: a picture taken about a week ago, of his first birthday with his new family. He smiled, before continuing down the stairs into the kitchen.

Almost immediately, he was welcomed with the sight of Tommy and Techno arguing at the kitchen table, with Techno refusing to look up from his book.

“Listen kid-”

“I’M NOT A KID.”

“ _ LISTEN _ , I’m not driving you guys today I got permission to skip for a college interview and I need to get ready for that”

"That’s not until 10, though! You have time to drop us off. It's not like you take that long to do anything.”

Techno gestured to his face, “All this isn’t natural Tommy it takes work. Besides, you never know what kind of weird ghost traffic you get in this town.”

Ah, right.

When Ranboo moved in with Phil, he also moved into what was the most notorious ghost town in the country. Not a ghost town in that no one lives there, it was a budding metropolis. More ghost town in that there were literal ghosts… everywhere.

(I mean it definitely helped stimulate the economy, what with Phil even working as one of the head engineers in a notable anti-ghost tech company in the area.)

Ranboo moved past them, grabbing bread and placing it in the toaster, before moving to the fridge and finding the butter and a small carton of chocolate milk.

Tommy grumbled. “Well if you don’t drive us to school today, then I’m telling Phil that you and that ghost Dream had that duel a few weeks back and that your broken arm was because you thought it was smart to jump from the top of that staircase.”

That got Techno’s attention. “ALRIGHT. The Pythagorean theorem states that it was in my advantage to get the high ground and strike from there this is _ BASIC MATH _ ” Techno screamed, finally putting down his book and slamming his hands on the table.

“Yeah well Philza Minecraft states that if you keep getting into fights you’re getting grounded.”

The two stared at each other for a minute… before Techno sighed and sat back down. “Fine, but this isn’t a regular thing next time you threaten me with that I’m telling Phil you and Tubbo tried to sell off pixie sticks as cocaine freshman year.”

Whatever the case, Tommy seemed immensely proud of himself. "You hear that Ranboob? I just got us a ride today. You can thank me later," he said, sitting down at the table to eat his toast.

Ranboo scoffed, grabbing his plate and sitting at the table “Oh please I could’ve done the same. Techno loves me.” Techno hummed in response, “He’s not wrong. I hate both of you, but Ranboo is more tolerable” he said, smirking at Tommy’s shocked expression.

“I HAVE BEEN YOUR BROTHER FOR MUCH LONGER THAN THIS EDGELORD!”

“Yeah but Ranboo also doesn’t regularly blackmail me.”

“I could, we just haven’t reached that point yet.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, “Alright whatever pig boy.”

Techno stood up, ruffling Tommy’s hair as the latter tried to pull back. “Oh please, you’re fine. But if you still want that ride, I’m gonna need you two in the car in the next twenty minutes. I do have stuff to get done.”

Ranboo and Tommy nodded, eating their food as fast as possible and scrambling off to their rooms. Ranboo closed his door, grabbing his clothes and school supplies and throwing them onto the bed. He reached for his backpack and his hand phased through, so he reached again an-

_ Wait… what? _

Ranboo turned back to his bag, blinking once, blinking twice. That was… weird.

He slowly reached his hand out again, this time grabbing the strap of the bag, squeezing his hand to make sure it stayed in place. Hm… maybe it was his imagination?

“GET A MOVE ON! TECHNO’S GONNA LEAVE SOON!”

He snapped himself out of it. “HOLD ON,” he cried, grabbing his towel and making his way to the bathroom. 


	2. Mostly Unphased

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came out a lot faster than I was expecting! I got really in the zone and just bam: chapter 2. Hope you like it!

Well, Techno was right about the ghost traffic.

They had made their way onto the main road a few minutes ago, and were almost immediately stopped by a mid-morning ghost fight. Just part of your typical school day.

Tommy pressed his face against the window, eyes widening in recognition. “Oh hey! It’s Dream! Fighting some ghost dude… is he _dripping?_ ” Ranboo looked out with him, to see the (self proclaimed) town hero Dream shooting an ectoblast at a strange ghost that looked like it was made completely out of slime. “That’s a new one” he said, watching as Techno bonked his head on the steering wheel for what was probably the third time so far. 

“This is why I don’t drive people places, I swear the second I go to college I’m out of here” he said, giving up on traffic moving anytime soon and pulling out his phone. “We’re gonna be here a while, wanna put on music?”

Tommy shot up. “Able Sister-” 

“We’re not putting on Animal Crossing, it's all you listen to, you need to diversify.”  
  
“I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW, that Animal Crossing is very diverse.”

  
“K.K. Slider covers don’t count you nerd.”

It was at this point the car broke into arguing again, with Tommy trying to pull the phone away from Techno and Techno just holding him back with his elbow.

Ranboo sighed, pulling out a notebook from his bag and writing down the day’s events. For as long as he could remember (which to be fair wasn’t long), he’s had an awful memory. So he decided to keep a notebook of everything that happened to him. He pulled out a pen and started writing out a new list:

  * Had toast and chocolate milk for breakfast
  * Techno and Tommy argued about driving to school
  * Techno’s college interview at 10
  * Techno and Tommy argued but this time about music
  * Weird moment with backpack...



Hm. Should he really write that one down? I mean… it was just him hallucinating right? He thought about it for a minute, before deciding to leave it in. Ranboo had promised himself to write down everything that happened, and that counted weird moments regardless of how real they were.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Tommy, who had let out a victory screech after successfully prying the phone out of Techno’s hands and opening spotify. “Eat Tom Nook bitch” he said, leaning back in the seat and smirking at Techno’s tired face. “He’s your new brother Techno, Phil said. You both have a lot in common, Phil said. This is how I’m repaid for giving you a ride”

Ranboo chuckled, “I mean you obviously don’t regret it if I’m here”

“You are the exception, not the rule”

Tommy responded by cranking up the radio.

=======

They finally pulled up outside the school, Ranboo and Tommy stepping out and waving goodbye. “You know I’m starting to get why he hates Animal Crossing so much” Ranboo said. Tommy scoffed, “Oh please you love it.”

Students were already starting to enter the building, the double doors of the building held open with a certain brunette waiting by the side. 

“TOMMY!”  
  
“TUBBO!”

Tubbo ran up to Tommy, playfully punching his shoulder. “You said you’d be here at 7:30 what happened?” he asked, “Hey Ranboo!”

Ranboo gave a small wave as Tommy explained, “We were held up in traffic, guess by who?” 

“By Drea-”  
  
“By Dream!”

Tubbo scoffed, turning around to start leading them into the building. “This is like, the third time this week you’ve fanboy-ed over this guy.”

“Hey, Tommy Innit is no fanboy! He’s just cool is all. All the other ghosts are fucking annoying, like whatever one keeps making boxes and shit float at night. How lame is that?”

Ranboo squeezed his arms by his backpack, “I mean at least that one is kind of helpful, now the garbage guys just use the fire trucks and pick up all the trash. The town has never been cleaner.”  
  
The boys had reached their lockers, opening them and putting their books away. “Oh yeah, it’s real helpful when Phil wants me to take out the rubbish and the bin is meters off the ground”

Ranboo turned to his locker, rotating the lock to find the combination, and reaching in to grab one of his textbooks. He didn’t really know how he felt about Dream, I mean the guy helped keep the other ghosts in control but… I mean he kind of had an ego. There was also something off about the guy. He couldn’t tell what it was but the guy seemed to always be hiding something. It probably didn’t help that the guy wore a mask, he wore a mask sometimes too though, that being usually when he was sick but-

Wait, he was lost in thought again, where was his book?

He looked into the back of his locker to see that…

Was… was his hand stuck in the locker? 

He pulled it back as fast as possible, stepping back a bit and catching the attention of Tommy and Tubbo, who had long since started talking about something else.

“Hey you alright big man?” Tubbo asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.

Ranboo pressed his hand back to his locker, pressing against where his hand had phased through. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine just… thought I saw something weird.”

Alright, well maybe it was good that he wrote down the thing with the backpack. He thought about it for a moment more. If it happened once then it was a separate occurrence. If it happened twice it was a coincidence. It only becomes a pattern when it happens three times, so as long as he went the rest of the day without another… incident, he was fine.

=======

It was a pattern now.

Ranboo had lost track of how many times he had tripped because his foot phased through the floor, or how many times he had to flush the toilet because his hand kept phasing through the handle. The amount of strange looks and worried glances he received throughout the day were starting to get to him, and was relieved when the bell finally rang for lunch, trying to get to their usual picnic table as fast as possible.

He dropped his bag on top of the table, startling Tommy who began to choke on his coke.

“Hey watch it- wow dude you look like shit, what happened?”

“I have been having the weirdest day, and at this point I think I’m going insane”  
  
“I mean to be fair I was kind of expecting it one of these days” piped Tubbo. “You have the feeling of a person who’s just waiting to snap y’know?”

Ranboo gave an unimpressed look, sitting down and putting his head in his hands. “Not that kind. At first I thought I was just seeing stuff but now I have no clue what’s happening anymore.”

Tommy took a sip from his drink, before scooting over closer to Ranboo. “I mean listen man, we all have off days like that. I remember one day I kept seeing the color yellow everywhere I went, had Phil take me to the eye doctor and everything. Thought I was going colorblind like fucking Gogy. I don’t even like yellow.”

He stammered for a bit before speaking. “No but this… this is different you know? Like I know I’m actually seeing it and I know I’m actually _feeling_ it but when I go back to test it everything is normal? And I know that it’s actually happening but I have no real way of explaining it and I don’t know what to do about it-”

“Uh Ranboo”  
  
“And even if I do have a way of explaining it it doesn’t really make all that much sense-”  
  
“Big man… Ranboo”

“Because if it’s right then that would be insane and raise all sorts of questions about my biology and how any of that would even work-”  
  
“RANBOO”

“WHAT!?”

Tommy and Tubbo were both staring down at him, wide-eyed. He was breathing in and out, slowly coming down from his anxiety attack. He tried to calm down, what did Phil tell him to do during these? In and out, in and out. A few seconds passed, and he looked around at what they were talking about, his eyes falling on the picnic table.

Oh.

He had phased through the table.

He was currently sitting on the ground… after having phased through the solid wood picnic table.

The three were silent for a moment.

“...”

“Dude that is so fucking cool”


	3. Little Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I name this chapter after a Of Monsters and Men song because I didn't have any other ideas? Yes. Did I write this way too quickly and brr through it? Also yes. Either way it's here now, enjoy!

“You sit down right here, alright sweetie? We called your father in from work and he should be here soon” the nurse said calmly, walking behind the desk on the other side of the room to finish typing the report on her computer.

“Thank you Ms. Puffy” he replied.

Ranboo slumped back in his chair, holding his backpack close to his chest. Shortly after Tubbo had said that he started panicking again, and it took awhile for the other two to calm him down. After that Tommy walked him to the nurse’s office and asked them to call Phil. His face scrunched up just thinking back to it. What was all that about anyway?

The phasing wasn’t him hallucinating, because Tommy and Tubbo saw him go through the table. Even if they hadn’t, it happened so often throughout the day. He glanced down at one of his hands, flexing the fingers open and close. 

So if all that was real, then what did that mean about him?

He was brought out of his thoughts when the door was nearly slammed open. In stepped a tall, blonde kid in a green hoodie, who was cradling his right arm with his left. “Hey mom! It’s your favorite student!” he exclaimed, showing off a wide and proud smile. 

She immediately perked up, face shifting from joy to disappointment so fast that Ranboo almost missed it. “Clay, sweetheart what did you do now? This can’t be a daily thing” she said, quickly getting up and walking across the room to assess the damage.

“I mean… I am on the football team ma” Clay said sheepishly, letting his mother dote over him and set him down in the chair next to Ranboo. She gave him an unimpressed glance. "Yeah but I didn’t think you’d break your arm! Hold on, I’ll see if I can get you a sling or something,” and with that she went off into the back room to check.

Clay and Ranboo sat in silence, the latter fiddling with his hands, before the older boy spoke up. 

“So, what’re you in for?” he asked, crossing his legs and lifting his head to fit in his good hand, “You’re friends with Tubbo right? He’s my cousin you know.”

“Oh uh… yeah we’re friends. I’m just here to get picked up by my dad.” He didn’t really feel like telling some random guy that he had an anxiety attack in the middle of the day, even if he was related to Tubbo. 

Clay nodded, turning away for a moment to cough into his sleeve. When he turned back around he stared at Ranboo for a few moments, before moving on. “Alright, well I broke this bad boy,” he pointed to his right arm, “from football practice. You’d think by now Sapnap would know to not just tackle people onto the sidewalk but here we are.” 

“...Does it hurt?”

“Oh I am in incredible pain”

The phone on the desk began to ring, and Ms. Puffy stepped out from the back carrying bandages and a sling before picking it up. A few seconds later she put it back down, moving to the front to help Clay. “Your dad is out front Ranboo, feel better soon” she said, offering a light smile as she crouched down to help her son.

Ranboo moved to grab his bag, and shared one last look with Clay. There was something… familiar about the guy, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Seeya Ranboo” Clay said, giving him a small wave with his left hand, before being lightly bapped by his mom. 

“Stop moving!” she chastised.

Ranboo waved back, before stepping out of the room and making his way to the front of the building.

=======

He opened the front door to the car, sliding in and putting on his seatbelt before looking up at Phil. “Hey kid, are you doing a bit better now?” Phil asked, shifting the car out of park and making his way out of the pick up lane.

“Yeah I’m fine now, sorry for making you leave work” he said. While he didn’t know a lot of the specifics, Ranboo knew that Phil’s job was fairly important. To put it simply he worked on anti-ghost technology that was supplied to the few ghost hunters employed within the town.

“Eh it’s alright. It’s been real slow today anyway, ever since that Dream kid started going about town there’s been less repairs to do.” He chuckled, “If anything you helped me out. It was getting dull.”

Oh yeah, Dream. Well he might as well test the waters a bit.

“So, what do you think about Dream?” he tentatively asked, “I mean he does kind of protect the town and all, and a lot of people like him.”

Phil hummed, pausing to think. “I don’t think he’s bad. I think he’s doing a pretty alright job at keeping the other ghosts in line too.” He thought again, “but I don’t fully approve of him. To be fair I’m skeptical of ghosts in general, and him looking like he’s fresh out of high school doesn’t help much either.”

“I guess that’s pretty fair,” Ranboo said. 

“I don’t know. I’m pretty neutral I suppose. Why? Did something happen with him?”

Ranboo shot up, waving his hands frantically, “No, no, I mean we did see him this morning I guess. He was fighting some slime ghost… and also paused for like five minutes after to take selfies but he’s just like that I think.”

His father nodded his head. “That’s kind of what I mean, he’s a bit immature,” he said, “but I guess he is part of why I could take off the rest of the day to pick you up so he can’t be too terrible.” Ranboo laughed, at least he didn’t outright hate ghosts, and he wasn't even sure if he was one in the first place! Besides, Phil was his dad now. He wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of adopting him just to kick him to the curb later.

Right?

=======

For the rest of the afternoon the two stayed at home, Phil going down into the basement to work on some sort of prototype. This left Ranboo up in his room for most of the time, listening to music and playing games on his computer.

The day flew by, with Techno getting home first and immediately passing out on the couch, to Tommy coming home hours later with both Tubbo and a stack of work Ranboo had missed.

It was now about nine, dinner had been served and eaten a few minutes ago and the boy’s had all gone off to their rooms. Ranboo lied on his bed, listening through the wall as Tommy plucked at a few strings of his guitar. The house usually wasn’t this peaceful, it was nice.

Ranboo could start to feel himself drift off to sleep-

**_Knock Knock Knock_ **

He groggily opened his eyes, looking towards the door to see who was there.

“Not the door!” said a muffled voice. “To your left!”

Ranboo spun around to his left, only to see none other than Dream floating by his window.

“Hey! Can you let me in, we need to talk”


	4. Rooftop Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey babe, new He's a Phantom chapter just dropped (definitely not because I was feeling particularly self indulgent).
> 
> School's been sucky so the update schedule might fluctuate between every day and every other day, but at least I still got to update this weekend so that's neat (even if it's a bit shorter than usual). I've really been enjoying writing this, especially because it lets me practice my writing more. I've been conditioned to essays not fiction...
> 
> Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

So… 

  


He was sitting outside his window, on the roof of his house, in the middle of the night, with a ghost...

  


He’d like to say he’s had weirder nights.

  


Ranboo shivered, he probably should’ve brought a jacket but when a ghost tells you to come outside you start to forget basic reasoning. “Alright, why are you at my house?” he asked.

  


Dream was floating across from him, legs folded with his hands on his knees and with that stupid smiley mask on his face. “Wow no hello? No: Wow! It’s Dream! How wonderful and amazing and so super cool!” he mocked, pressing his hands against his face in fake awe.

  


“...You know I’m starting to get why my dad doesn’t like you, you’re kind of a prick”

  


The ghost snickered, “Alright, alright. You sure you want me to be so blunt about it? So absolutely-” he started to laugh, “ _ transparent? _ ”

  


Why was it that Tommy liked this guy? It was probably the costume, the costume and the flying. There’s no way anyone would willingly submit themselves to this.

  


Dream seemingly picked up on his murderous thoughts, continuing on with his point. “Fine, I’ll get to the point then Ranboo. I think that you’re a ghost, specifically a half ghost.”

  


Oh okay.

  


Wait.

  


What.

  


“What?”

  


“Hey be glad you’re getting this information from someone like me and not from some ghost you actually wants to hurt you” he continued, “and as weird of a concept as it seems half ghosts do exist.” He looked back down at Ranboo, who looked like he was torn between crying and punching him in the face.

  


“I… Okay first of all why do you know my name? And why the hell would you know if I’m a ghost or not” he said angrily. “You can’t just show up to people’s houses at night like a shitty Hagrid and tell them they have magical powers.” The ghost choked on air as they began to start wheezing horrendously, trying to collect himself as fast as possible.

  


“Okay well to answer your questions, I’m the town hero and also a ghost, not to mention you could drive around the whole town in about a day if you really wanted to. I know of everyone, and I know at least one thing about everyone.”

  


“As to your second question” he began, before floating closer to Ranboo and letting a small wisp of blue air come out from his mouth, “I have a thing called ghost sense. It let’s me know where ghosts are around town.” He poked Ranboo’s stomach, “including half ghosts.”

  


Ranboo pushed himself away, glaring at the ghost. “W-well, even if you do have some knockoff spider-sense, how are you sure I’m half ghost? Maybe I just have a ghost with me at all times. Or, maybe- maybe I have something that’s possessed!” 

  


He couldn’t be part ghost, that was absurd, that wasn’t a thing! You can’t just be half dead, how would that work? Do some of your body’s cells just not exist? Or are they dead skin cells? Oh god was he half dead, would his body spontaneously stop working? Do ghosts even have DNA?

  


He looked back and forth from right to left, before finding himself slowly scrunching up. His hands were held out in front of him, waiting,  _ daring _ , that they do anything even vaguely non-human.

  


Dream sighed, lowering himself onto the roof of the house and squatting down in front of Ranboo. 

  


“Listen, I know it’s a weird thing to come to terms to. Believe it or not, but most people don’t immediately accept the fact that they’re not fully human.” He scooted over to sit next to the younger. “But we both know that it’s the truth. Whether you want to believe it or not, by some way or somehow, you’re part ghost.”

  


He took a deep breath in, a deep breath out. He clenched his fingers open and closed, once, twice, before laying them flat on the roof beside him.

  


This… would explain a lot wouldn’t it. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but… 

  


“I have…” he started, “I have been… noticing some things.”

  


“What kind of things?”

  


He took in a sharp breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “I… may or may not have phased through an entire picnic table at lunch today?”

  


Dream laughed, “Yeah I think that would do it for proof. Anything else? Any floating objects, glowing hands, glowing eyes, any of that?”

  


“No, no I haven’t had any of that” he sighed.

None of that  _ yet _ , at least.

  


“I don’t… I don’t fully understand why this is happening? I feel like I would know if I was half ghost, y’know?”

  


“I know I have memory problems, but you’d think that I’d remember if I had phased through tables and walls before you know?” He let out a nervous laugh, further scrunching in on himself. “Why is all of this happening now?”

  


The older shrugged, leaning against the wall, “It could be any number of things really.” “Have you been in contact with any ghost equipment? Had any major life changing events?” he asked.

  


Ranboo thought for a moment, “None that I know of, and to be fair that’s kind of a sus question to ask someone.” The other laughed.

  


“My dad works on ghost equipment, but he leaves all his work stuff in the basement and none of us are allowed to go down without him or without a hazmat suit.” He thought about the second question a bit more, “The only life changing event I could think of is my birthday, I turned 17 last week. That’s all, none of that is enough to put me literally one foot in the grave.”

  


Dream stood up, pacing back and forth on the roof, boots padding softly against the shingles. He muttered to himself, lost in thought. After a moment he turned to Ranboo again, “Ranboo… have you considered that-”

  
  
  


  


  


  


“You were born a ghost?”

  



	5. The Ghouls and The Ghasts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys... how we doing in canon? I'm going to be honest I had the draft for this chapter ready for a while, and then I just made papercraft figures so now I have a very poorly made axolotl. Anyway, uh enjoy the chapter! And before you panic at the chapter count read the end notes!

Ranboo shambled down the stairs the next morning, rubbing at his eyes and groaning. If there’s anything that stops you from getting a good night’s sleep, it’s:

  1. Finding out you’re half dead, and
  2. Getting a talk about the ghost version of “the birds and the bees”



He shuddered as he thought back to it, opening up his memory book to see his notes from the night before:

“Ghosts aren’t just manifestations of those who have passed, although many of them are.

The term “ghost” is just an umbrella term for any creature that is primarily made up of ectoplasm. As a result, not every ghost is undead. Some ghosts are monsters, manifestations of concepts, and some are just mindless blobs.

Ghost sexual reproduction-”

He immediately closed the book and slipped it into his pocket. Nope, absolutely not, not getting into that right now. It is far too early. He would… he would look back on that later when he was more at peace with this.

Ranboo reached the bottom, stepping carefully and looking past the rail to see if anyone was around, before making his way to the kitchen. The sun had risen a few hours before, sunlight streaming through the open curtains over the sink. Tommy was sitting at the table, scrolling through his phone and eating a bowl of cereal. His face lit up when he saw Ranboo come in.

“Hey big man! How you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, where’s everyone else? Couldn’t convince Phil to give us a ride today?” he asked, pulling out a chair and sitting next to the shorter.

Tommy took another bite before answering, “Nah, it’s a three-day weekend remember? Whole town celebrates how in the 1800s a bunch of people got paranoid and murdered each other.” He shrugged, “I don’t really get it but day off so who cares.”

“Phil still has work though, and Techno wanted to head out to the library or something like a nerd, so it’s just us today.”

Ranboo nodded, “Cool, cool. That’s cool.”

They both sat in silence, the only noise coming from the hum of the fridge. Ranboo fidgeted in his seat, before getting up and deciding to grab a pop tart from the cabinet. He nibbled at it, before Tommy decided to speak up. “So… are we ever going to talk about what happened yesterday or?

Ranboo tensed up, nearly choking on the bite he had taken, “I mean, well it depends on what we’re exactly talking about. Truly it could be anything. I mean did you see Sapnap body slam that guy yesterday? Wild stuff.” He chuckled nervously, stepping back to lean against the counter.

Tommy scoffed, pushing out his chair to stand up. “You know what I mean alright, stop acting like nothing happened alright?” He ran his hand through his hair before continuing, ‘I mean we both know that what happened, what happened wasn’t normal Ranboo.”

“Yeah I know what you mean, nearly broke that kids’ spine in half haha.”

_ Coward, he’s not gonna let up on this you need to just tell him. _

_ But he finally has a family here, if he tells them then that’s going to ruin everything. _

_ He already knows! Telling him, not telling him, it doesn’t matter! _

The younger let out a frustrated groan, “Can you just stop dodging the question? Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?!”

Ranboo was panicking, he can’t keep doing this oh god. “Because, nothing is going on Tommy!”

He got angrier,“You know that’s not true!” he yelled, “People don’t,  **YOU** DON’T JUST DO THAT! YOU DON’T JUST PHASE THROUGH A TABLE! STOP ACTING LIKE NOTHING IS HAPPENING!”

He slammed his fist on the table, taking a step towards Ranboo.

Ranboo leaned back as far as he could, but this time he noticed it, he felt himself merge in with the cabinet and phase through it. He looked down in horror, raising his arms to avoid touching it, touching anything.

_ Oh god you knew it. They’re all going to hate you. They’re going to give up on you. Why did you think you would have a home? Why did you think you could pretend to be normal? You're not normal. You apparently never were and you never will. This was all a mistake. You need to leave. You need to go. Run, run, run, rUN, RUN. _

Tommy froze where he was, eyes widened as he looked at Ranboo’s face. He held his hand out to reach him. The latter flinched away, and he pulled his hand back immediately.

“Ranboo, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to I-”

“I need to leave.”

“What?”

“I need to LEAVE.”

“Ranboo you’re not leaving we, we need to talk about this please-”

“No. No, no, no, no, no”

_ No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was one thing when it was late at night, and he had some weird guy who wasn’t involved in his life asking him questions. He can’t have this happening in his normal life. This was all he had. God he’s spiraling again. This is all he ever does anymore isn’t it? Just worry and stress and worry and stress and- _

**_Snap, snap, snap._ **

He snapped out of it, seeing Tommy’s hand reaching out for him.

“Can I… is this okay?”

Ranboo slowly stepped out of the cabinet, before slumping to the floor and nodding. Tommy went next to him, placing his hand on the other’s shoulder.

“Hey Ranboo?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me five things you can see?”

“No…”

“Come on, try.”

He raised his head a little, looking around the kitchen. “I see, the fridge…”

Tommy nodded, “Good.”

“I see… the counter, I see the table, and the chairs” he started, before turning to Tommy, “I see you.”

“Four things you can feel”

“Your hand, floor, cabinet… I guess myself.”

“Three things you can hear”

“You, me, the fridge”

“Two things you can smell”

“Pop tart, that weird smell that just never leaves the sink”

Tommy chuckled a bit, “And one thing you can taste?”

“Pop-tart”

“There we go big man.”

They stay together for a minute, content to just listen to the fridge hum and to stare at the wall. Ranboo looked down, before stretching his legs and laying them out across the floor. Tommy sighed, taking his hand off his brother’s shoulder and scratching the back of his neck.

“Ranboo I,” he started, “I shouldn’t have gotten mad like that. It’s just… this isn’t the first time someone in this family has hidden secrets, and it’s not the first time that…” He breathed in, “Well most of those secrets have ended badly. I just want to make sure you don’t end up like that.”

Ranboo turned to him, tilting his head slightly before Tommy continued. “It’s not an excuse, though, and I’m sorry about that. You’re obviously going through someth-”

“I think I’m half ghost.”

“...Well I have to say that’s a new one.”

The older let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding, “So… you’re fine with that? You’re not mad?”

Tommy’s face twisted in confusion. “Why on Earth would I be mad about you being half ghost? That’s cool as shit! I wasn’t mad about you phasing through stuff I was just mad you wouldn’t tell me anything.”

Ranboo smiled, “Really?”

“Of course really!” he exclaimed, jumping up from where he was sitting. “You get such cool powers! What else can you do?”

“Well Dream said that I should-”

“YOU TALKED TO DREAM!?”

Ranboo let out a chuckle, before bursting out in full on laughter. Maybe all of this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I think that's a decent place to end this fic in particular. This doesn't mean I'm no longer writing Danny Phantom au, it just means that this was meant as a sort of introduction arc, and I think it's served its purpose. I still have loads of ideas for this au and things to write. Any other fics or related oneshots I make will still be in the same series, so hop on in every now and then to check if you want!
> 
> The support I've received on this fic is a lot more than I originally expected, and I hope you all stay for more in the future! Again, my first series so any and all advice is appreciated I have no clue what I'm doing. See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! So this is the first work in what will (hopefully) become a long term series! I aim to finish this one within the next two months or so, and after that it may depend on work to work. This is my first real published work, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated and beta readers are always accepted!
> 
> See you next time!  
> 


End file.
